{"id":22528,"date":"2021-04-13T14:22:31","date_gmt":"2021-04-13T21:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=22528"},"modified":"2021-04-13T14:22:31","modified_gmt":"2021-04-13T21:22:31","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-death-has-blue-eyes-1976","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=22528","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: DEATH HAS BLUE EYES (1976)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This film is currently available to purchase on Blu-ray\nfrom Arrow Films. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Since getting his start early in the 1970s, independent Greek\nfilmmaker Nico Mastorakis has compiled a lengthy list of writing and directing\ncredits. This includes numerous B-movies like Island of Death<\/em>, The\nZero Boys<\/em> and Nightmare at Noon<\/em>, as well as producer credits on\ntitles like the cult monster movie, Bloodtide<\/em>. Arrow Video are now\npresenting Mastorakis\u2019 first feature on Blu-ray. Death Has Blue Eyes<\/em> has\nbeen nearly impossible to find in this part of the world since its original release\nand is finally getting the high-definition Blu-ray treatment. In truth, the movie\u2019s\nstory is episodic and goes off on some strange tangents, but remains a\nsurprisingly stylish flick. And despite being made on a shoestring budget, the\nfinal product does show a lot of ingenuity and promise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is clear from the outset that this\ntitle is a combination of R-rated James Bond style tropes and telekinetic horror\npictures that had recently become popular after the release of Carrie<\/em>. The\nstory begins with conman Robert Kowalski (Peter Winter) arriving in Greece to\nsee his friend, Ches Gilford (Hristos Nomikos). Robert has already assumed the\nidentity of another passenger on the flight and begins using the moniker to\ntreat himself and Ches to various extravagances. However, they get called out\nat a hotel by Geraldine Steinwetz (Jessica Dublin) and her attractive daughter,\nHristina (Maria Aliferi). The two ladies seem to know everything about the two\nmen, causing unease. It is soon revealed that Hristina has psychic powers. Geraldine\nexplains that they\u2019re on the run after witnessing an assassination in Poland\nand enlist the pair to serve as their protection. It isn\u2019t long before the group\nare being pursued by dangerous thugs out to kill them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The movie is essentially a series\nof sketches that aren\u2019t always well connected. In fact, Robert and Ches rarely\nseem appropriately flummoxed by what is occurring around them. Ches\u2019 reaction to\nhis buddy\u2019s dangerous acts early don\u2019t result in more than a shrug, which doesn\u2019t\ndo too much to generate tension. But when the action comes, it\u2019s well put together\nand features some great stunts. In between their attempts to avoid being killed,\nthe male leads take breaks to relax and romance female acquaintances. It\u2019s a\nfunny and at times ridiculous response to almost being murdered, but no one\nappears to be taking things very seriously early on. In the final act, we learn\nmore about the two women and uncover what is really going on. It\u2019s actually a\nneat and original twist that adds some excitement during the climax. In fact,\nit makes one wish the reveal had been introduced into the story earlier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the movie isn\u2019t a classic and gets sidetracked by its lengthy\nromantic interludes, at least it is well-shot, fast-paced (running a zippy 80\nminutes) and has some impressive action, including a great chase through the streets\nand an impressive finale set against a ticking clock. The flick certainly works\nas an efficient calling card for a low-budget filmmaker showing off his technical\nprowess and displays Mastorakis\u2019 ability to invent and execute a neat little story\ntwist\u2026 even if it isn\u2019t maximized as well as it could have been. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As always, Arrow Video does a stunning job at upgrading the\nimage quality for its Blu-ray debut. The image looks so clean that it\u2019s actually\nquite stunning. This movie was clearly made on-the-cheap, but it looks so good\nthat one really can appreciate the location photography and technical skill on\ndisplay. Once again, the distributor should be credited with doing a stellar\njob at making it look better than it ever has before. I would even venture to guess\nthat the movie has literally never looked this good, even when it premiered on\nthe big screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The disc also includes several entertaining bonus features. The\ninterview with Nico Mastorakis himself might be the most interesting. He\ndescribes his early days in TV and his desire to move into moviemaking. Searching\nfor any source of financing, his only option was to approach an adult film\nproducer. In order to satisfy his investor\u2019s stipulations, he was required to add\nsome gratuitous nudity into the feature (which explains the strange romantic\nasides, as well as the reason that the two leads inexplicably have a naked housemaid\nstaying with them when they are first introduced). Mastorakis also talks about the\ndifficulty in finding an English-speaking cast and convincing them to join his\nproduction. He tells a lot of interesting stories about the trials and dangers\ninvolving in making a movie for modest sum of money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s also an interview with female lead Maria Alifera.\nShe looks back fondly on the production, noting that she didn\u2019t have a problem\nwith the sketchy background of the financier, noting that while the movie had a\nlot of nakedness, no disrobing was required on her part for the gig. She\nenjoyed working with Mastorakis and the cast, describing it as a crazy and\nfast-paced shoot that was a lot of fun and ultimately helped her career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another interesting plus is that one can play the soundtrack\nto the film in the background and enjoy the score. Again, it seems as though\nthe filmmaker convinced outside contacts from his days working in television to\nassist him on the feature. Some of the tracks really are excellent, introducing\nexcitement into the proceedings while also having a distinct and unique sound.\nThe \u201caction theme\u201d is particularly impressive and somehow manages to combine a\nquick tempo and jazz elements in a very effective manner. It\u2019s all very enjoyable\nto listen to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end, this is an eccentric debut feature that does its\nbest to check off every exploitation film box in order to make itself appealing\nto international distributors. It isn\u2019t a masterpiece, but does show plenty of\nskill and has a couple of interesting elements that do set it apart from other titles\nof its ilk. One wishes that the filmmaker had made more of the story\u2019s major twist\nand telekinesis elements, but at least there is something original about it all\nwhen everything is revealed. And of course, the presentation from Arrow Video\nis exceptional, with the picture quality displaying just how well shot the\nfeature is. If you\u2019re a fan of Mastorakis or low-budget B-movies, then you\u2019ll\nfind this Blu-ray release to be a novel curiosity. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This film is currently available to purchase on Blu-ray from Arrow Films. Since getting his start early in the 1970s, independent Greek filmmaker Nico Mastorakis has compiled a lengthy list of writing and directing credits. This includes numerous B-movies like Island of Death, The Zero Boys and Nightmare at Noon, as well as producer credits […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":22537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[107,1832,1836,2923,2928,2949,3067,3073,5478,9454,10654,13198,14822,16010],"class_list":["post-22528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-107","tag-arrow","tag-arrow-video","tag-blasts-from-the-past","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-reviews","tag-blu-ray","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-death-has-blue-eyes","tag-hristos-nomikos","tag-jessica-dublin","tag-maria-aliferi","tag-nico-mastorakis","tag-peter-winter"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22528\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}